Astrology is so pervasive that people seem to be indoctrinated with the character of their alleged star sign. There are many that employ these falsifications into their everyday lives as if celestial bodies imparted unknown energies onto their souls. Like with any other superstition, many claim that astrology (I refuse to grant it an uppercase status) is a science and that it helps people with their endeavours such as love, business, family, etc. The truth is… astrology is as much a science as telepathy, witchcraft, or belief in the tooth fairy. All science academies around the world denounce astrology as even remotely resembling a science claiming that “it fails to demonstrate its effectiveness in numerous controlled studies” (National Science Foundation). Many people fall prey to the closeness of the word Astronomy, which is a formidable and groundbreaking science and a fascinating study of celestial bodies, galaxies, and the universe. One would think that by the 21st century, science would have long since cleaned up such ancient notions but, every day, we are encouraged to retreat into the fog of our superstitious past. Such belief not only belittles human intelligence but hinders our progress as a reasoning intelligent species.
Astrology is a primitive belief system projected as an elaborate pseudo-science. Its arrogance is such that it makes us humans the focal point of the universe. The movement of planets is supposed to signify petty developments in our lives. It was developed by Claudius Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD and has not changed since, despite the discovery of new planets and despite the formidable shift in Earth’s axis which throws out Ptolemy’s Zodiac map out by 23 degrees. How shift in planetary motion could make a difference to physiological bodies like ours is beyond comprehension even to astrologers. Psychologists have named this chime that readers have with their vague statements, as the Barnum effect. Statements which are so vague that they could apply to any individual are somewhat personalised by the human brain to think that they are being targeted personally.
After some research, one can discover that the world’s most renowned astrologers are nothing but storytellers whose tales seldom match. Sydney Omarr, whose astrological gibberish has been printed into millions of books worldwide, was a Journalism major from a community college. Susan Miller, popular astrologer of this century, was also a student of Mass Communication and Journalism, claiming to have learnt astrology from her mother. It is strange how this pseudo-science can be passed on a matriarchal level like a family secret. To take a closer look, I examined my horoscope by Susan Miller for 20 days from my birthday in January 2009. After shifting through numerous vague statements which claimed that Jupiter was going to impart its energy upon me, I discovered something that was slightly true. On the 22nd of January, I was to receive negative news in the mail or possibly a loss in business. It was not exactly the 5th but on the 10th I had lost some money gambling in oil trading. If I was to consider that statement to be true, percentage wise it was a 15% right-to-wrong analysis. Probably the same odds I would have had, placing money blindly on a race horse.
I was lucky enough to get in touch with Mr. F. Alvie who was responsible for horoscope printing in the largest newspaper in the Gulf, back in the early 90s. He claimed that for a good portion of the year, the astrologer from the US (I’ll save him the embarrassment) had sent an annual horoscope for the wrong year! When contacted, he claimed that it was a clerical error made by his staff and consequently sent the correct horoscope for the year. Therefore, thousands of people were reading a year old horoscope thinking that it was applicable to their current everyday development. What’s disturbing is that the astrologer was paid for the entire year for all the hogwash he churned out. Mr. Alvie also relayed a story of a colleague who believed in the false horoscopes and stopped having caffeine for a year. That person, he claims, is still kept in the dark about the incident for comical purposes.
Overall, astrology misleads the public, constantly denounces scientific development and belittles human intelligence. It will be surprising to note that 25% of British citizens claim to have complete or partial belief in astrology. That is more than any god in any religion. Painfully, horoscopes get more media print coverage than science and the public gobbles up any astrological stereotype thrown at them. Astronomy, on the other hand, is a triumph of human intellect and a proper study of our cosmos. On a moonless night, gaze at the stars and you will see celestial bodies displaying their light. Most of these stars are probably not in existence as it has taken the light millions of years to get to us. We can stare into a time machine dating back to the time of the dinosaurs… a true fascination one can indulge in every night. And yet, as science unravels these wonderful mysteries of our universe, our society is drawn to the flame of supernatural beliefs.
